In a welcome surprise to many, self-declared feminist Rehana Fathima who was among the select group of women who tried to enter the Sabarimala temple post the Supreme Court verdict, has been arrested by the police for an objectionable Facebook post that hurt the sentiments of the Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees.
Kerala: Woman activist Rehana Fathima has been arrested by Pathanamthitta Police. The arrest was made on charges of allegedly hurting religious sentiment through a Facebook post. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/WMWoGkGIl1
— ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2018
According to local media reports, and as confirmed by ANI, Rehana Fathima has been arrested by the Pathanamthitta police for hurting the sentiments of Bhagwan Ayyappa devotees. For those unaware, Rehana Fathima had posted a photo of herself on Facebook on 30 September, dressed as an Ayyappa devotee, and wearing a rudraksha and sporting a patta. She captioned the photo as ‘Tatvamasi’, and her position, apart from the caption was a clear mockery of the Ayyappa devotees.
Following the complaint registered at Pathanamthitta police station, the local police filed a case against Rehana Fathima on October 22 for social media posts that are communally divisive in nature.
For those who’re unaware, the Supreme Court of India had struck down the rule of not allowing women between 10-50 years in the Sabarimala Temple campus, terming it ‘as gender discrimination’ even though the rule was applied only for a specific age group. When the devotees protested against the arbitrary verdict, they were met with unimaginable brutality meted by the state police forces.
According to a report by The NewsMinute, “The case was registered following a complaint filed by the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samithi alleging that her social media posts has hurt their religious sentiments. The complaint was directly handed over to the District Police Chief of Pathanamthitta by the Sabarimala Samrakshana Samiti secretary P Padmakumar.”
As of now, Rehana Fathima has been arrested by the concerned police. She had applied for anticipatory bail, which has been duly rejected by Kerala High Court on 16 November. She is currently under judicial custody.
Though atrocious to think of, this is not the first time Rehana Fathima has been accused of posting such derogatory content. Her Facebook account has been replete with such offensive content, be it against the Brahmin community, or the Sanatan Dharma in general. Even when she attempted to enter the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple, she was carrying blood stained sanitary napkins in the bundle of offerings.
Rehana Fatima found carrying sanitary napkin in her irumudikettu at sabarimala. She was going to temple to offer napkin to Lord Aiyyappa? Oh how this hurts and angers me. How can @CMOKerala continue in his chair. Aren't you ashamed.. I curse you and your tribe with all my heart
— M (@MaliniAzif) October 19, 2018
Needless to say, her exploits weren’t appreciated by anyone. Even though she termed herself as a ‘Muslim atheist’, her actions invoked the ire of even the Muslims of Kerala. Rehana Fathima has been officially expelled from Islamic community after she was accused of trying to defile the ‘sanctum sanctorum’ of the Sabarimala temple.
The fight for Sabarimala temple, as sponsored by Sanatan phobic feminists, was never at all about ‘gender equality’. It was just a tool to propagate their vicious message, in complete cooperation with the vicious communists of Kerala, who ironically term themselves as the ‘guardians of democracy’.
